Madhya Pradesh BSP MLAs say they will remain with Mayawati

The two BSP MLAs in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday said they will remain in the party, an assertion that came after all the six legislators of the Mayawati-led outfit joined the ruling Congress in Rajasthan.

The two Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs - Sanjeev Singh Kushwaha and Rambai Singh - are supporting the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, where the ruling party has a wafer-thin majority in the 230-member assembly.

In a major setback for Mayawati, all six BSP MLAs in Rajasthan on Monday night wrote to assembly Speaker C P Joshi to merge the legislative party with the Congress.

However, the BSP MLAs in Madhya Pradesh said they were not going anywhere.

When contacted, Kushwaha and Singh told PTI that they are with Mayawati and will remain with her in the future too.

"All is well here (in Madhya Pradesh). There is no problem, Kushwaha said.

Asked whether he, too, will change loyalty like BSP MLAs in Rajasthan, Kushwaha said if he joins the Congress he will do it with pomp and show.

"There is nothing like that now. Nor I am going to join (the Congress) in future, he asserted.

Asked whether any directive has come to them from party chief Mayawati after the Rajasthan episode, Kushwaha replied in the negative.

"Mayawatiji hasnt told us anything. I am with the party," he added.

Asked if he and Singh had sought cabinet berth in the past in Madhya Pradesh, Kushwaha again replied in the negative.

"I am with Mayawatiji and will remain with her. We are powerful in MP because of Mayawatiji. I have won election on the BSP ticket and remain loyal to it, Singh said.